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Mexico Gets the Win; Canelo Scores UD12 Victory Over Cotto

Published

9 years ago

November 22, 2015

The boxing world has been hungering for a real-deal super fight, a pairing that would surpass the Super Bowl of over-hype, an antidote to the Ishtar was Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Hopes abounded that the Saturday night clash, between Miguel Cotto, an aging but resurgent Puerto Rican icon, and the cinnamon-topped Mexican hitter Canelo Alvarez, would fill the bill, make us forget that night when Mayweather and Pacquiao made oodles of cash, but not one fan to the sport.

And you know what, it satisfied.

More so if you are a fan of Canelo; after 12 rounds, the judges had it for the Mexican, whose power was superior and whose stamina was quite reasonable, by scores of 117-111, 119-109, 118-110.

Canelo snagged that many more fans when he spoke to Max Kellerman after, and said hell yes, me and Gennady Golovkin can fight right now.

Cotto left the ring and then refused to chat with Kellerman in his dressing room.

For those wondering, no, there is no rematch clause.

The Ring middleweight title was up for grabs, though the max weight was 155, or under.

Canelo, age 25, came in with a 44-1 mark, Cotto, age 35, was 40-4.

In the first, Cotto was moving ever so smartly. Canelo was a step behind.

In the second, we saw more movement from the Puerto Rican, and Canelo looked to close the distance. A sharp right from Cotto was the best land of the round.

In the third, Canelo got a bead on him. His right was on message. Slip, dip and rip right from Canelo was spot on.

In the fourth, they were trading jabs. Cotto was moving, and busy, and Canelo was having fun, dancing some. His right hand made Cotto blink hard.

In the fifth, Cotto ripped combos. A left upper from Canelo landed clean and this fight was tight. In the sixth, more shuffles from Canelo. The jab from the Mexican was effective. Lederman had him up 4-2. In the seventh, Cotto was more stationary, and looked to fight inside. Canelo was so confident, his right upper after a Cotto right fell short, was nasty. Was this the round of cruciality, when you knew Canelo would get that W?

In the eighth, Cotto wanted more space, and his work in the second half of the round, based on his legs, won it for him.

In the ninth, Cotto had the edge in power punches. Cotto’s jab and movement worked for him, too, though. In the tenth, Cotto was busier early. He had good energy…Cotto complained he was hit on his back. He was dancing, then Cotto got stumbled late. In the 11th, Cotto was moving, maybe too much. He was looking less fresh. In the 12th, we got some action we were hoping for, rumbling. A cut formed on the Cotto left eye, and he looked in avoidant mode.

To the cards…

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Canelo afterwards said, “I have a lot of respect for Miguel. He is a great champion and a great fighter. We knew going into this fight that it would be a difficult journey, but I feel that I was the faster and stronger fighter tonight. I wasn’t hurt by his punches. I want to thank my trainers, they are like my family and the best people I know and I couldn’t have done this without them.” Álvarez continued, “I’m not afraid of any fighter. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is a great fighter, and he is my friend. I have respect for him, but if we do fight, it’s going to be at my weight class. I’m the champion, and I don’t have to do what he wants.

“I was fully prepared for what Cotto was going to do in the ring, whether that was take a defense stance or be the aggressor,” Álvarez said lastly.

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Michael Woods

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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